There is a resurgence among a diverse US population who believe that guardian angels not only exist, but claim to have a working relationship with them. Angelogy seminars and lectures, and a noticeable rise in publications about angelic contact, indicate a growing acceptance of angelic presence in everyday life. Accounts of angelic contact contain common elements that angels are incorporeal, sexless, highly intelligent, able to move at the speed of thought, full of warmth and joy, are
cooperative not competitive, and often say the same thing: Don't be afraid. (Source:
Wall Street Journal, USA)

(Share International, July/August 1992)

Master mechanics

Recently, two elderly sisters, driving along a quiet country back road in Iowa, USA, had a puncture. Unable to change the tyre, they sat and waited, hoping that help would soon arrive. Within seconds a car appeared and three young men jumped out offering to help. Their rescuers were handsome, courteous and happy. They were also fair- haired, blue-eyed, and all wore white suits.

One of the young men lay full length on the road to position the jack, and was scolded by the sisters for soiling his spotless attire. However, he made light of their worry and, when he climbed to his feet his suit was not stained at all, even though the road was greasy and slippery after a days rain.

The tyre was quickly changed, the young men ascertained the sisters had no further difficulties, and refusing to accept payment for their efforts drove away. However, as they continued down the country lane, their vehicle began to shimmer brightly, until the car was almost transparent and then, with a final pulse of brilliant light, it vanished altogether. The sisters are convinced that they were helped by angels.

Apparently, dozens of experiences have been recorded from all over the United States of angels coming to the rescue of stranded travellers with punctured tyres. The angels are always young, smiling and playful, but become solemn and silent as they perform their duty of changing the wheel. When their mission is accomplished their otherwise unremarkable vehicle dematerializes in a magical shimmer. (Source:
Daily Mail, UK)

(Share International, March 1993)

Time for
angels

A recent cover story of Time magazine called it a grass-roots revolution of the spirit. The article, `The New Age of
Angels,' states: 69 per cent of Americans believe they [angels] exist. What in heaven is going on?

Writer Nancy Gibbs explores the questions many people are seeking to answer about the nature and role of angels in the universe. Gibbs states: By scriptural tradition, angels pull back the curtain, however briefly, on the realm of the Spirit. [And in] offering a glimpse of the larger universe, they issue a challenge to priorities and settled ways. Angels, she claims, seem to be a universal idea that cuts across cultures and spans centuries. Fifty-five per cent of adult Americans believe that angels are higher spiritual beings created by God with special powers to act as His agents on earth.

Whether an angel appears in a dream, as a comforting presence, or a physical person, there exists a remarkable similarity among reports of such encounters. Two angelic experiences are related in the TIME article:

A woman with uterine cancer is visited by a tall, dark stranger with deep blue eyes three days before she is to enter the hospital for surgery. The stranger states: I am Thomas. I am sent by God. He proceeds to raise his right hand and the incredible heat coming from his hand, and a strong white light passing over her body, convinces the woman she is cured of the cancer. In fact, test results prove negative, prompting her doctor to acknowledge he had witnessed a medical miracle.

Another woman reveals that her husband, in the throes of lymphocytic leukemia, was visited by a pale, white man with icy blue eyes. After the visit, the terminally ill man seemed lit up, just vibrant, according to his wife. He died two days later, but with what his wife called extraordinary peace of mind.

The encounters with angels seem to provide in some cases the extrication from danger, but in others they allow for the removal of the fear of that danger
- a change in attitude, not circumstance. The common thread is a profound change in the lives of those who have had an experience with angels.

The article concludes: For all those who say they have had a direct experience of angels, no proof is necessary; for those predisposed to doubt angels' existence, no proof is possible. And for those in the mystified middle, there is often a growing desire to be persuaded. If heaven is willing to sing to us, it is little to ask that we be ready to listen. (Source:
Time magazine)

(Share International, January/February 1994)

New York Timeseditorial on angels
A recent Sunday New York Times editorial discussed the renewed interest in angels in popular culture and the number of current books about angelic visitations.
The New York Times did not acknowledge the possible veracity of the stories, but also did not overtly disparage them. As the editorial put it: Many people, it turns out, still believe that in their hour of need ... the mysterious stranger who came to their rescue was no earthly friend but another kind of guardian.

In regard to the current popularity of angels as images and ideas, the editor reflected: We cannot give a definitive answer. We can guess, though. In a sectarian age, when people are being slaughtered for their differences, angels are nonsectarian well-wishers, common to Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Zoroastrianism. Bodhisattvas
fulfill the same role ... in Buddhism, as avatars do in Hinduism. They are universal exemplars of grace and innocence ... a sweet antidote to the nastiness of most popular culture.